I've become a new teacher in a Christian community hall and teach volunteers from around the world who have volunteered to work there. Anyway, I teach using my own method, so no curriculum in place.

I applied my TEFL teaching techniques and used the Presentation, Practice and Production method, even used games and role plays. They never seem motivated or lively to learn. They are forced to go to these lessons and work 24 hours a week, that could be the case and are tired.

The problems I see is not about your teaching techniques but as to whether your people see the need to learn. Until people see the need to learn they will not be motivated to learn no matter the methods used. May be the best you can do is to have an open discussion with them so as to establish whether learning is important to them. And also for them to identify their need to learn, develop a learning attitude and set their learning goals i.e. what they will want to achieve after they have completed the learning programme you are offering.

In my experience, however, I have noticed that when students are engaged in the process they seem to be more active. So as you teach them, allow them to participate, and be active. Also, it is important to bring fun into the classroom, by introducing some games and activities that make studying seem more fun and less work. Ask your students to the board more often, don't just let them sit at their desks. Make them move around the class as they play a new vocabulary game, and act along with them. You don't necessarily need to be in a teacher-student relationship, make it more friendly and relaxed.

Here are some ideas for class activities, and games you can use to make your teaching more lively:http://teachers.onlineenglishexpert.com/category/tips/teaching-strategies

It does have a lot to do with mentality and whether they want to learn or feel the need to learn. Before you start though, get to know your class. Have a bunch of icebreakers so you know where they are from, whether they truly feel like they need to learn or not. Ice breakers can be energizers where they run around and laugh (what you will pick depends on the age group of your class) and then have them come together as a group and discuss it then have one person present it. It's also important that the class sits in a circle so that there is no hierarchy of who is superior and who is inferior. Have a movie viewing session (when I was in India recently, we watched 'Mind your Language',a TV show and 'English Vinglish', a movie). And make sure to teach only things that are relevant to their field of work, in this case, it could be conversational English.